GARETH BALE says Wales are driven to qualify for Euro 2020 by their World Cup failure two years ago.
The Dragons missed out on the 2018 global tournament following a 1-0 defeat to Ireland in a final group game decider.
Gareth Bale has declared himself fit to start against Hungary on TuesdayCredit: Alamy Live News
Wales are in the same position when they host Hungary in a winner-take-all clash in Cardiff tomorrow night.
And Real Madrid superstar Bale believes his team-mates will be fuelled by that major disappointment to the Irish.
Bale said: “They weren’t scenes we wanted to be part of. Looking back on that I think we can use that as a positive.
“We can see how we don’t want to feel after the game.
“We know prior to this game we can push and push not to feel like that again, because it’s not a feeling you want in the dressing room after the game.
“We have the experience of what we have gone through. We have the negative of knowing how it feels to miss out on qualifying for a tournament like we did the World Cup. We don’t want to be feeling like we did after the Ireland game.”
Bale was Wales’ talisman on the road to the 2016 semi-finals under previous boss Chris Coleman.
And the 30-year-old delivered a major boost on his fitness by declaring he is ready to start against the Hungarians after he came through a 60-minute outing in the 2-0 win over Azerbaijan on Saturday.
Ryan Giggs’ men can qualify for Euro 2020 with a win at the Cardiff City StadiumCredit: Reuters
Real Madrid winger Bale played 60 minutes in Saturday’s 2-0 win against AzerbaijanCredit: Reuters
Bale added: “I’m ready. I hadn’t played in four weeks so it was important to get 60 minutes into my legs and get some match sharpness.
“We spoke at the start of the week about trying to get 60 minutes and hopefully being a couple up before I came off so it worked out well, no problems and I’m ready to go for Tuesday.”
Bale also claims qualifying for next summer’s finals led by boss Ryan Giggs would be on a par.
Bale added: “It would be right up there yet again. We have got the euphoria of qualifying four our first Euros and doing so well at the competition that we really want to do that again.
“The experience of qualifying for the Euros was massive and something I’ve never done before and to do it again might be a bit more impressive.
“It’s going to stand in equal stead as last time but we can’t think about that just yet. We have another important match first and we have to focus on that as a team and a squad.
Wales currently sit third in Group E – one point behind second-placed HungaryCredit: Alamy Live News
“It’s been an up and down campaign but it’s always better to start a little bit worse than finishing badly because you know you’ve got that time to resurrect things.
“The most important thing now is that we haven’t lost since we went to Hungary and we’ve been on that upward trajectory.
“The football has been really good and we have to keep riding that wave. We know how big of a game it is on Tuesday and we’ll be ready to give a big performance.”
Gareth Bale jokingly tells Welsh FA translator ‘you’re late’ as they arrive mid-press conference after predecessor is dismissed by Ryan Giggs
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
